Virgin to resume Mumbai-London flight from Sunday

The airline, which had closed down Mumbai operations 3 years ago but continued to fly out of Delhi, would launch its Mumbai services from October 28 with a wide-body Airbus SAS A330, of which Virgin is due to receive six this year, Virgin's officials said.

Branson and Virgin's Chief Executive Officer Steve Ridgway are currently in India.

Virgin would not only connect Mumbai to London but its daily flights would also offer easy connectivity from London Heathrow to New York, Boston, Miami and Washington, with only a couple of hours of stop-over, officials said.

The aircraft would feature the new Upper Class service, including a new onboard bar and long flat-bed seats and the flight would be staffed by a mix of Indian and British crew.

The announcement of launch of Virgin's flight comes at a time when some of the bigger international carriers like American Airlines and Qantas withdrew flights from the Indian market.

Virgin flights from New Delhi to London and New York have seen a growth of 20 per cent last year. Over a million passengers have flown Mumbai-London-US sector since Virgin stopped operating from Mumbai, which justified the resumption of Mumbai flights, officials said.